Husch Blackwell announced today the launch of an Internet of Things (IoT) team that brings together lawyers from across the firm’s existing practices to serve as a resource to clients in this rapidly evolving area of business. Nested within the Technology, Manufacturing and Transportation industry group, the IoT team features 20 attorneys from 10 offices around the country who offer expertise in areas ranging from data privacy and security to financial services and regulatory compliance.
Led by partners Melinda Giftos and Andrew Schlidt, the IoT group integrates three main practice areas that are central to the commercialization of IoT technology – intellectual property law, data privacy and security, and contracts and licensing. This cross-practice collaboration also includes lawyers with specific industry experience, including healthcare data systems and regulatory, financial services transactions and capital markets, precision agriculture, ‘smart-grid’ electric technologies, and IoT manufacturing platforms. As such, the IoT team is a natural extension of Husch Blackwell’s industry focus.
“As more clients develop and launch IoT-enabled products and services, our firm sees the value and necessity of taking a team approach to the very specific challenges these clients face,” Giftos said. “IoT technology filters into all aspects of decision making – from operations to corporate transactions – making a comprehensive legal perspective vital to addressing each challenge.”
“IoT is bringing together legal and strategic concerns that formerly had very little to do with one another,” said Schlidt. “In effect, when you start integrating IoT technologies into the analog world of tractors and thermostats, every company becomes a technology company, and they have to think about risk and opportunity in a vastly different way.”